The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-03-04
FARM NOTES.

Whether prices be up or down, prime
mutton sheep are always salable, and
at good prices. The markets are never
supplied with choice mutton.
II every person titled his land as well
as he knows how the increase of crops
would be very great and production
would be very much cheapened without
doubt
Farm profits vested in permanent i'm.
proyements return larger dividends than
when deposited In banks or invested In
other directions. A farm cannot be too
highly improved
There is nothing better for the ma
nure heap than soapsuds. Il prevents
fire-fanging. arrests the escape Of volatile
matter and hastens chemical changes
and decomposition.
A Michigan cultivator thinks that by
careful culture. close pruning. and fer
tiltzing with bone and potash We may
secure in a great measure exemption
from the yellows in peaches.
1t is estimated by those who have
made the subject study that the losses
occasioned by insects injurious to agri-
culture in the United States reach the
enormous sum of $500, 100000 every
year.
A compost heap is rather unslghtly,
but If placed in the back yard or be-
hind the barn it will not annoy any one
Refuse matter should be thrown on this
heap. All will help make valuable
pile of manure which can be utilized in
the spring.
The consumption of food by dairy
stock is paid back in three-fold way
milk, growth of stock, and the value Of
the manure, which last, often balances
the first cost of the food. It is in that
respect that stock-raising is superior 70
exclusive grain growing.
Gilt-edge butter cannot be produced
unless the udder and teats of the COW
and the hands of the mixer are washed
before milking the COW. The milk must
then be removed from the stable as
quickly as possible, as it will absorb
odors as soon as it becomes cool
1t would not be out of place il farm
ers would put their names over their
gates, in order to assist those seeking
particular residences. The plan is as
applicable in the country as in the city.
Even the farms along q road could be
numbered from one town to another.
Do not attempt poultry raising on q
large scale until you have experimental
with small flock and gained expert
ence. There is much to learn, and but
few have succeeded with over one hun
dred hens. Care and patience must be
exercised. and the entire time given
large Hocks.
Old bones, old boots, leather scraps,
and rags are excellent for placing in the
holes intended for grape vines. 1t ID a
safe mode of getting them out of the
wav and also render them serviceable.
They may be of very little value at first,
but sooner or later they will furnish
plant food.
The day is forever past in this coun-
try, says Farm, Stock and Home, when
the chief reliance of the successful farm
or, whether his acres be few or many,
can be placed upon manual industry,
however persistent, II undirected by a
mind conversant with the progress OF
the times in all that relates to his bust
ness. .-...
At this season, when the corn is being
fed to the hogs, it should be remember
ed that the warmer and more com.
Portable the hogs are kept the less corn
required. Before hogs can fatten the
bodies must be supplied with sufficient
heat to protect against cold, and the
greater the amount of heat saved the
larger the gain in fat
Germany teaches horticulture in her
schools. A small nursery is attached to
nearly every common school, and the
children are taught to grow trees and
vines from gratis and cuttings, as well
as to plant the seeds and watch the
various stages of growth. It would be
of great advantage if such system could
be introduced here.
Plants sometimes seek food. A Della
ware grapevine sent root long dis
lance to hole in which bones had been
buried, and surrounded every bone with
roots. A running vine will send out q
tendrii to seize a cord hanging near
but out of its path. Circumstances show
that plants have power of selection, and
to certain degree. exercise intelli
gence. ~..-
II there be any materials that are I'm.
fit for use on the farm, such as rakings
leaves, or dried weeds, eonsIgn them tC
the flames, as it is much better to do SC
than to have them in the way. Fire
will do more to destroy weed seeds and
save labor during the growing season
than any other agent At this season
get ready for the next by reducing tht
number of obstacles.
Though long custom has given the
preference to large hogs, yet the small
carcasses sell better than those that are
heavier when sent to market Expert
ence has taught many farmers that it /,
cheaper to raise pork quickly rather
than to keep pigs over winter in order
to allow them fifteen months growth
instead of ten, as good spring pig will
be ready by Christmas.
A perfect strainer, says the american
DGiTyn1Gn, is made of three thicknessei
of fine bolting-cloth in a tin frame, like
the hoops of hair sieve. 1t should b.
so constructed that the three cloths Car
be taken off and cleansed separately
Fine dust that will pass through one
thickness Of cloth or wire gauge win be
arrested when two or three are laid to
gether, and not q hair win 60 through
Do not store your root crops In
mounds If it can be avoided, as it il
difficult to get at them for use when the
ground is frozen. Make bins in the
barn, and pack them in dry earth Of
sand. Endeavor to avoid all the moist
ure possible. In this manner they viii
not only be protected from frost but viii
be within easy access and in any guam
tity desired during the coolest days o.
winter.
The following is the method of curing
hams that received the prize at a New
England fair: TO every 100 pounds o.
meat take pounds of salt, 2 ounces o.
saltpetre, pounds of brown sugar, II
ounces potash and 4 gallons water
Mix them and pour the liquid over the
hams after they have been in the tut
two days, they having been rubbed with
fine salt when put in the tub. They
should remain in this pickle six. weeks
then taken out, hung up three days Il
dry and smoked.
Prof. Roberts, speaking of the great
efficiency of modern labor-saving i'm
plements and machines, says; 1.-THE
boy of to-day, with his sulky-plow anC
self-binder, can rob the soil of NOR.
plant food in year than his grand
father could in all his lifetime. though
his muscular grandfather might have
carried of with ease two such boys. one
under each arm" High farming is pre-
cisely like the keeping of superior ami
i mals To get the beat return. not onlI